Sentencing Male Sex Offenders Under the Age of 14: A Law Reform Advocacy Journey in Hong Kong

Abstract

The common law presumption that a boy under the age of 14 is incapable of sexual intercourse has provoked controversial debates in Hong Kong. This article describes a 6-step advocacy journey to examine how community efforts have helped modify this law so that juvenile male sexual offenders under the age of 14 who have committed the crime of having sexual intercourse with underage females can be sentenced to receive appropriate treatment. Seven court cases provided by the magistrates’ courts in Hong Kong were used in this advocacy effort for the removal of the presumption in July 2012. Although this effort has yet to reveal signs of effectiveness, it represents greater public awareness about providing rehabilitation appropriate for juvenile sex offenders through a formal sentence. Restorative justice, as opposed to retributive or punitive justice, places an emphasis on rehabilitation of the offender and restoration of victims to a place of wholeness.

KEYWORDS:

• juvenile sex offenders under 14 years old
• common law presumption
• Hong Kong law reform
• child sexual abuse
• advocacy
• restorative justice

Notes

1. For confidentiality purposes, some information in the cases has been removed and replaced with special characters.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wai-Ching Irene Ng

Wai-Ching Irene Ng, MSocSc, RSW, is a lecturer in the Department of Social Work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include family studies, violence and disaster recovery, crisis intervention, community and women’s work, clinical practice and field work supervision. She received her MSocSc from the University of Hong Kong.

Monit Cheung

Monit Cheung, PhD, LCSW, is a professor, chair of clinical practice concentration, and principal investigator of the Child Welfare Education Project in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. She has been a social worker for 38 years and is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in play therapy, family counseling, child/adolescent counseling, child protection, sexual and domestic violence, and incest survivor treatment. Her primary research interest is related to child and childhood sexual abuse. She received two master’s degrees (MA, MSW) and a doctoral degree in social work from the Ohio State University.

Anny Kit-Ying Ma

Anny Kit-Ying Ma, LMSW, is a doctoral fellow in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. She is a social worker working with veterans specializing in mental health services. Her professional experiences include disaster planning and recovery services, homelessness prevention and rehousing programs, child development and welfare, family education and planning, nonprofit development and fundraising.